Construction Manual – Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco is committed to the prevention of incidents to minimize loss of life and bodily injury to its employees and contractor/subcontractor employees, prevent damage to physical assets and protect the public against hazards resulting from its operations. As such, Saudi Aramco considers safety to be no less of a priority than other business considerations, including schedule and cost.

In support of this commitment, the Saudi Aramco Loss Prevention Department publishes the Saudi Aramco Construction Safety Manual (CSM). This is the fifth edition of the CSM since its introduction in 1974.

This edition of the CSM is divided into two volumes. Volume One is entitled the Contractor Safety Administrative Requirements (CSAR). Volume Two is entitled the Work Site Safety Manual (WSSM).

The purpose of the CSAR is to establish Saudi Aramco’s contractual requirements for management of safety by the contractor company. Thus, the audience for the CSAR is contractor company corporate and site management, not workers at the job site.

The purpose of the WSSM is to establish minimum safety-related requirements for job-site activities. As such, the audience for the WSSM is Saudi Aramco and contractor/subcontractor workers and their supervision at the work site.

The scope of the WSSM includes all construction, operations and maintenance work performed by Saudi Aramco (SA), contractor and subcontractor personnel within SA facilities, on SA project sites and at project support facilities covered under SA Land Use Permits, including laydown yards. The WSSM expands upon Saudi Aramco’s minimum safety rules in order to assist Saudi Aramco proponent departments and contractors perform their day-to-day work activities safely.

The basis for many requirements in this manual is in the reference section of each chapter. Use of a reference is mandatory when it is specifically adopted by a section in this manual. Other references are to be used for additional guidance as needed.

In the event no other Saudi Aramco general instruction, engineering standard, policy or procedure exists that addresses a particular hazard, then this manual shall govern. In case of conflicting requirements, the applicable Saudi Aramco general instruction(s) or engineering standard(s) shall take priority over this manual.

The petroleum/gas industry and its work environment are in constant change due to the development of new technologies, processes, regulations and the identification of new hazards/risks. Consequently, these changes necessitate continual review and updating of Saudi Aramco’s safety requirements and standards. The Loss Prevention Department will issue interim revisions to this manual as appropriate.